My cats act like they are starving and eat like wild animals.

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I dont know what has gotten into them.
I wanted them to like raw but I didnt want them to turn into savages!
Muta has started opening the fridge and dragging out raw meat.
I feed them twice a day and I feed them double what they are supposed to get. Sometimes more to try to satiate them.
Well, I am really just referring to Muta. Sweetz is fine but he does eat A LOT at one time.
If I dont give them a ton, they meow forever. Its crazy, right when I wake up it starts and goes until I pull out the food.
He always loved eating when he was on canned but he wasnt such a freak about it.
Should I be feeding him more?
Right now they both get over 6 oz. a day which is well over 3% of their body weight.
Maybe I should cut back on the amount and just feeding them more often.
I was just trying to find out if anyone else had this problem after switching to raw.

I know it's not funny to you, but the image of the kitten opening the fridge and pulling out all the meat...

First, how is their weight? A kitten should have all it wants until and unless it starts getting fat. Lurch tapered off at a little over a year. Until then, I just threw meat at him and stood back (whip and chair in hand). I truly believed from the amount he was eating and the size of his paws that he would grow to be a 20-lb cat. Fortunately I was wrong.

Both Lurch and Rumble now eat 6-8 oz per day, and they're 11 and 12 lbs respectively. They both self-regulate pretty well. Keep in mind that the percentages are only a guideline. My senior dog eats over 3% of his weight per day, and some younger and more active dudes are eating half what he does. Same goes for cats. Each body is different.

You may find that if you let them satiate themselves even for a few days, the begging decreases. You may also find they limit themselves, unlikely though that seems at the moment.

What are you feeding? Wings etc. that require work, or premade? It could be too that the wonder food is just gone too fast, whereas large chunks of meat or bones that require crunching will stretch out the entertainment. You might also consider whole prey. Lurch is nuts about his feeder mice and chicks (frozen, not live).

No believe me, when I walked into the kitchen and saw Muta dragging the bone from a pork picnic into the corner, I almost died laughing. Not to mention, the other cat and one of the dogs were crowded around him just so amazed he got that thing out. He was hissing but it was muffled by the meat. I was almost too proud to be mad.

Muta and Sweetz are both in good shape. Muta is about 9 lbs and Sweetz, I'm not exactly sure but I would say about 11 or 12 lbs. I wouldnt say either of them needed to lose any weight.

Well, I dont feel so worried about them wanting more now.
I guess 8 oz. is not so much after all! I was just freaking out because that is what one of my dogs eats and he is twice as big as the cats.

When we first switched over to total raw, the only things the cats would eat in chunks and not mixed with canned was chicken. Since then they have moved onto chunked pork and will occasionally eat some ground/chunked beef.
I was worried about them only wanting to eat chicken so I ordered TC Instinct powder with beef liver to make sure they were getting all the nutrients. Last batch I made was with chunked beef, chicken and goat. They ate it... most days. They are always picky. Some days they will think pork is greatest meat ever, some days its poison. They will always eat chicken though.
Maybe I should start giving them more bone in chicken. Sweetz can easily plow through a chicken thigh and will even eat the bone, Muta on the other hand has a hard time with bones. I should get them some wings or maybe cornish game hen or something.
I have never tried whole prey. How do you introduce that? I feel like I would have to cover it in canned food or something! My cats love to "play" with their food. They might just think thats a toy. Hmmm... I should try it though.
I will just let them get their fill for the next few days and maybe they will stop. They are pretty young so maybe they just need extra. Muta is about one and Sweetz is two plus, they are both very active, especially for house cats.

Mine also think that they are starving 24/7. I might be lucky that they are at the farm which is a mile away from my house so I don't have to listen to their constant whining

The second I walk in the barn they all start yeowling. Going up into the strawmow is the hardest part.... why?:

1) If i am late the cats up there will start hurling cat toys at me (or whatever else they can find that they can fit in their mouths). This time change is horrible Walk underneath the opening to the strawmow and you will have a few cats drop cat toys and try hit you on the head. If they do they run and hide in the strawbales for a few minutes and then just go at it again. Of course with the time change they think I have been an hour late for the last few nights which really ticks them off.

2) I always portion out the meat and put it into ziplocs. Not so bad but try climbing up the ladder with the ziploc full of meat. I have to hold it above my head out of their reach while climbing up...of course half the time someone always will manage to dig their claws into the bottom of the ziploc and make all the bloody water stuff drip out of the bag. Plus you have a 10 pound cat hanging by their front paws from the bag....

3) I actually have to make the meat "fly" to keep my hands safe through the whole process. To do that I have a towel that I try toss the meat on and do so from 10ish feet away. They are getting much better and catching it and "killing" the meat and some will get it midair

4) The liver and kidney is the hardest part making sure each cat gets exactly the right amount or at least close to it. I feed the liver and kidney as treats twice a week. However each cat gets their portion which typically leaves me with scratched up hands. (Typically a lamb kidney gets cut into 1/4ths which makes it the perfect amount for a cat to get twice a week. Livers are tougher and depends on what animal the liver is from).

You could try feeding them 3 x instead of 2 x a day; that's what I do and have always done. My guys also act like they are going to perish if not fed and are not very happy with the time change either. If I pull out meat to prepare for us humans to eat they come running over to get fed even if they've just eaten their own meat. It does make it more difficult to prepare dinner! (but it' soooo cute). Oh, and I definately feed them more than what the official percentages say that I should, probably like 3.5% of their body weight, but it varies from day to day. Shade sometimes doesn't finish his, but then there are days when he just looks into his empty bowl like he can't believe that it's gone already and where's more! Smudge is just a hoover, vrrroooom!

I am going to suggest that you feed them more then twice a day. Cats were designed to eat many small meals a day. And I think this is very apparent when feeding them raw. Raw is more designed to what nature intended for our little loved ones to eat. Kibble has things put into it to make them feel fuller.

When I first started raw feeding I continued to feed my cats 3x's a day like I have always fed them. But they were always still hungry when I fed them 3x's a day on raw. So, now I feed them 4 sometimes 5 times a day - and yes I work full time. This has helped to curve the begging and acting like they are starving

Don't cut back on what you are feeding them. Just spread it out into more feedings

Also, they say that kittens are allowed to eat as much as they want until they are about 12 months. But hopefully once you feed more meals they will calm down a bit

Another thing I do (sorry I said this already in another post) is to leave out half a day's meal and just let them eat it when they want it. Sometimes it's all at once, sometimes they come back and graze. They've eaten food that's been out all day (inside, climate-controlled) and never had a problem.

Whole prey - throw the cat a mouse. I tried pinkies from the pet store, but no one liked them, so I had to chance ordering a bag of adult mice from Rodent Pro. Shipping's expensive, but it was a huge hit with Lurch. He knew what to do with it immediately. The others batted it around but prefer the taste of their own outdoor hunts. Interestingly, Lurch won't eat the wild mice.

My stories aren't nearly as funny as yours, but here's one. Lurch is black and has a condition that affects his balance - he walks like a drunk and his head bobs. The first time I gave him a feeder chick, which is bright yellow, he picked it up with his ears back like a proper wild panther, and staggered off with it to his private spot. Or tried to. He lost control of it and inadvertently tossed it to the side. He stopped, looked around, and casually spit out a tiny yellow feather. Ptui. Maybe you had to be there, but I nearly died.

Back to topic, you can feed the prey still frozen, which cuts down on mess. The first few times you'll probably need to thaw them to make them appealing, though.